Concrete chicane keeps drivers on the curvy and narrow in China
We don't have much information on this, but apparently this theme-park looking concrete chicane is in use on a roadway in China to keep speeds down. The Not So Great Wall of China is about two-feet high and one-hundred serpentine feet long.
We can't imagine what people were doing on this road to necessitate one-way traffic slowed to a crawl. Or maybe the authorities are just trying to protect the trees and fields from pilots like the amphibious Audi R8 driver, since there doesn't seem to be a mammal anywhere in the area. Or perhaps a new Olympic sport? If you have any better (more educated) ideas, please feel free to fill us in in the comments... Thanks for the tip, Gabriel!
[Source: Nate]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
ALEXDB9 7:37AM (8/22/2008)
Those crazy commies, what will they come up with next?
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James 11:56AM (8/22/2008)
At least China is doing something to help curtail future fossil fuel consumption by building a small solar power plant in Beijing next year. What can be said about our capitalist mentality here? The easy money is still in fossil fuels, so there really is no push for renewable energy here.
Swede 11:59AM (8/22/2008)
I read a report saying China has no less than 89 new reactors planned for construction. Thats alot of clean power.
Big Rocket 1:07PM (8/22/2008)
@James: Do you really believe a communist mentality is better than a capitalist mentality? Which country was it that exported unsafe goods with shoddy workmanship, tainted with large amounts of lead, etc? Greed is universal, comrade.
taipeileviathan 5:07PM (8/22/2008)
the only reason why american products aren't all tainted with crap is because the corporations here understand that some short term costs add long term value. it's just not worth ruining their reputation for, but if they can get away with cutting corners, they will; e.g. nike using sweat shops until consumers start complaining/boycotting, factories dumping in rivers until legislation prevents them from doing so, all the disgusting crap that mcdonald's still puts in its food, etc.
once the chinese corporations understand the same principle in business, they will follow suit in order to increase profitability (the best businesses already have): corporations are a capitalist construct and in that they function the same no matter where they're located. indeed, china's hardly communist anymore, but what they ARE that we AREN'T is a single party, authoritarian state, and that may in fact be better for the environment etc. b/c the state can mandate whatever the hell it wants without worrying about bottom lines or whatever. ultimately it is still about long-term value added, but while the US corporations are governed by quarterly reports to the shareholders, the chinese gov't is free to invest in projects that will pay its dividends in years to come.
so in short, yes greed is universal, but the way greed is manifested here and over there is very different and they may in fact have a better system. nobody will know until decades from now...
Big Rocket 6:30PM (8/22/2008)
taipeileviathan wrote: "china's ... a single party, authoritarian state, and that may in fact be better for the environment etc. b/c the state can mandate whatever the hell it wants..."
Are we talking about the same China here? The China I know is polluted because greedy officials take bribes to allow factories to pollute the environment. And these greedy officials get away with bribes because there is no free press to criticize government corruption, and a one-party authoritarian state has no accountability to voters. If you honestly still think China is environmentally clean, then why do you think Beijing had to take half the cars off the streets and shut down factories right before the Olympics?
And one other thing: Saturated fats and transfat are bad for your health, but lead poisoning is even worse.
Chuck 7:40AM (8/22/2008)
Better detour around that road in your hummer.
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Starnerf 7:57AM (8/22/2008)
Or over it.
dgduris 7:42AM (8/22/2008)
Well, the more they have to start and stop, the more greenhouse gasses those cars emit. And I'll bet that they don't pass the CARB standard for emissions.
Crazy commies are going to kill the earth. Either in China or with a nuke over Georgia.
Damn commies!
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mj 7:55AM (8/22/2008)
Looks like a repurposed Kayaking course prototype for the Olympics.
Sometime send them a link to a description of speed bumps.
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taipeileviathan 5:11PM (8/22/2008)
seriously tho, i'd far prefer these to speed bumps... anyone with low ground clearance can appreciate these. i know me and my s4 certainly would, not to mention the supercar owners...
Kiiks 8:06AM (8/22/2008)
High stakes autocross.
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Dan 6:56PM (8/22/2008)
Or enemy to hub caps everywhere.
Kitko 8:13AM (8/22/2008)
There can be a control point at the end of that lane and the chicane just acts as an alternative to "sleeping policemen", the artifficial bumps.
Speaking of chicanes.... what about the US "invention" the Lombard Street, San Francisco's famous Crookedest street in the world. How many people drive it down for the sake of it (me too....), many in a haphazard manner. Think of the brake dust and CO emmisions.... the air and noise polution for the people living in the area must be immense.
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JEziquiel 9:56AM (8/22/2008)
Lombard isnt that bad actually, since no one moves particularly fast on it you don't get any worse of a build of brake dust or CO emissions than you would on a straight downhill like the backside of Masonic ave (in the Haight).
Plus being in San Francisco the ever present winds off the bay keep air circulating. Its an invention of necessity too, being a steep street zig-zagging allows vehicles to climb the hill more effectively. If you want really steep go drive down 22nd street towards church street between Noe Valley and the Castro. Thats just ridiculous.
Anyway this Chinese solution seems to born out of surplus of labor combined with some of their notoriously inept management. Kind of hard to compare to one of America's better cities if you ask me.
Gerald 8:27AM (8/22/2008)
I wonder how an emergency vehicle would handle that.
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HAWC1506 2:58PM (8/22/2008)
Just look in the picture. There's a white ambulance going through it.
CH 9:11AM (8/22/2008)
From the look of it, there were already a few that hit the entry corners and the walls through the course. Wonder if this is a measure to keep workshops in china alive.
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Mike 9:54AM (8/22/2008)
Security device, speed control is the mechanism.
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GooMoo 9:55AM (8/22/2008)
this is rarely rarely happened in China, especially in small town.
DON'T make some connection related with politics!!!
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